Journalist for Syrian Media Organization killed in roadside bombing
Beirut, August 23, 2017–The regional director of the rebel-affiliated Syrian Media Organization was killed August 21 in a roadside bombing in the southwestern province of Daraa, according to the group’s executive director Abu al-Majd al-Zoabi.
CPJ Safety Advisory: Shifting security situation in Iraq
Threats to journalists in Iraq have changed after government forces regained control over the city of Mosul and significantly reduced the territory controlled by the militant group Islamic State. CPJ’s Emergencies Response Team (ERT) has issued the following advisory for journalists who plan to continue working in Iraq.
Sudanese journalist fined over column criticizing police
New York, August 22, 2017–Sudanese authorities yesterday fined Suheir Abdelrahim, a columnist for the daily Al-Tayyar, for a column criticizing the police, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the sentence and called on authorities not to contest the journalist’s appeal.
CPJ calls on Israel to reverse decision over Al-Jazeera reporter’s press card
The Committee to Protect Journalists requests that at a hearing scheduled for August 21, the Government Press Office reverses its decision to revoke the press card of Elias Karram, an Israeli journalist and Al-Jazeera Jerusalem correspondent.
Egypt should stop blocking access to rights organizations’ websites
Washington, D.C., August 18, 2017 – Egyptian authorities should immediately stop blocking access to the website of the international press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF, for its French acronym) and the Egyptian group the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Internet users in Egypt have been…
Court sentences two Syrian journalists for blasphemy, shutters magazine
The Court of First Instance of the Second Criminal Court of the Syrian city of Douma, which is under the control of the rebel group the Army of Islam, on July 11, 2017, sentenced Shawkat Gharz al-Din, a journalist for Rising for Freedom, and Laila Safadi, the editor of the magazine, to two months in…
Iran bars BBC staff and contributors from selling property
Washington, D.C., August 15, 2017–Iranian authorities should immediately reverse an order banning 152 journalists and media workers with the BBC’s Persian service from buying or selling assets, cease harassing BBC journalists, and lift their ban on the station, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Iraqi regulator threatens TV satirist with legal action
New York, August 14, 2017–Iraqi authorities should stop threatening the pro-Kurdish broadcaster NRT and political satirist Ahmed al-Basheer, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In a letter NRT received August 10, the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission inquired whether the broadcaster’s Arabic-language channel would continue airing al-Basheer’s program and threatened to pursue “legal action”…